Case study
A school district made a major investment in a new curriculum. Its teachers weren't using it the way it was meant to be used.
St. Martin Parish Schools
By the end, the district's leaders had built their own model of leadership, piloted it, and taken it across the entire district.
The client
A public school district in Louisiana, with 888 employees
The work
How long
A multi-year partnership
The curriculum was new. The support around teachers wasn't.
Before
St. Martin Parish Schools had made a major investment in a new curriculum. Teachers weren't using it, or weren't using it the way it was meant to be used, and student results hadn't moved. When the work began, the district didn't think it had a leadership problem.
What was in the way
Teachers weren't getting the support they needed to teach it. They were planning lessons on their own, and the principals and coaches around them didn't have the time, the training or a shared picture of what coaching a teacher well looks like. Support came after a problem, when it came.
Where the district ended up
The district's leaders put into their own words what leading and coaching teachers well looks like in St. Martin Parish, and what it looks like as a principal or a coach grows into it.
They redrew who coaches whom, from the district office to the classroom, so that every leader both gets coaching and gives it. That changed how principals and coaches were trained and supported, and what some of their roles were.
They tried it first as a pilot, took what would have stopped the more hesitant people out of the way, and then brought it to the entire district. The plan for carrying it forward on their own came last.
How the work went
Whole Room™ — my change management method
I'm not the only expert in the room.
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What was in the way, at every level
1Diagnose the Cage
The district wanted to know why teachers weren't using the curriculum.
I looked at that question at every level:
- I observed classrooms,
- professional learning sessions
- and coaching sessions,
- and I studied the district's data on student results.
What I found was that teachers weren't getting the support they needed, because the leaders around them didn't have the time, the skills or the set meetings and visits to give it.
Then I observed alongside the district's leaders, with the research narrowed down to a few specific things to look for.
They analyzed what they saw and named what was in the way in their own words.
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They decided what leading well looks like in their schools
2Facilitate the Breakthrough
Then a steering committee of district and school leaders decided together what leading and coaching teachers well looks like in their district.
I set other frameworks side by side in front of them, and they picked what worked for them and built their own.
By the end they had one definition, in their words, with the research behind it.
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They worked out what their own leaders needed
3Co-Architect the Path Forward
Then they turned to their own leaders: what would principals and coaches need in order to lead this way?
I laid out the tradeoffs and asked what had to happen first, and they decided how those leaders would be trained and supported, who would coach whom, and which roles had to change.
By the end they had the whole model on one page, and a written guide for each visit and meeting it depends on.
Then, bringing it to life
Now the district's leaders had clarity about what they wanted, and they recognized that leading this way would be new for them. So they asked me to help bring it to life.
My supportThe district's leaders
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First, a pilot
It began as a pilot. What would have stopped the more hesitant people showed up there, and it was taken out of the way before anyone else was asked to change.
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Then, a leadership academy
Taking it to the entire district started with a leadership academy. Each group of leaders, principals and instructional coaches among them, had its own training in the new way of working.
The day before a group arrived, their supervisors, and anyone else who coaches them, went through the training themselves and got tips on how to coach people during it.
Then they stayed for the training itself, coaching as it went, and followed up in their own meetings afterward.
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Modeling, then feedback
I modeled the work with their teams, in trainings and in virtual sessions. Then I stepped back, they did it, and I gave them feedback on how it was going.
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Workshops through the year
Through the year there were virtual workshops. I came with topics, and the district's leads and I revised what each one covered based on what the progress data was showing.
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Last, the plan
The plan came last, written with the same steering committee that had defined leading well at the start. It set out who needed to be involved and what had to stay in place to keep the model alive, and it's what the district took with it to keep the work going on its own.
The leading was theirs the whole time.
What the district kept
Four documents, each built with the district's leaders.
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The Coaching Framework & Instructional Leadership Matrix
What leading and coaching teachers well looks like in the district, and what it looks like at each stage as a leader grows into it.
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A New Model for Instructional Leadership
One page showing who coaches whom, from the district office to the classroom, and the named meetings and visits where it happens.
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Protocols for Instructional Leadership
A written guide for each of those meetings and visits, so a principal or a coach knows what to do and say in it.
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A New Vision for Instructional Leadership
The final report: what was in the way, what the district built, and the plan for carrying it forward.
In the district's words
Her level of knowledge and expertise in leadership training is expansive and has brought a new level of leadership development to our district. Ms. Mensah's work with St. Martin Parish will have a lasting impact on teaching and learning for years to come.
Ms. Mensah's instructional guidance in professional development sessions has had a significant impact on my Educational Leadership capabilities.
… She has taught me how to facilitate using specific verbal prompts which provokes teachers to think more critically which helps them to better engage in and internalize the lessons that they teach.
This evidence-based approach removes personal feelings from the equation and puts the focus on what students need to be successful according to state standards. She has made a lasting impact on our district.
Start with a conversation.
Thirty minutes by video, and it's free. You tell me about the change you invested in and what you're seeing now. I tell you how I'd approach it, and you decide whether there's a next step.
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